January 05, 2009
Home » Information » Newsletters » Bullet-N Archive » April 2008 Barnes Bullet-n
April 2008 Barnes Bullet-n
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Last month I pointed out that March was a great time to go outdoors and get some pre-season practice in with your favorite deer rifle. Deer and elk season may still be several months away, but foxes, coyotes and other predators are fun to hunt.
If you want to hunt considerably larger game, you can do as I did and travel to Texas. A number of Texas ranches offer exotic species like nilgai, a large antelope native to India. Nilgai are about the same size as a bull elk, but have considerably tougher, denser bones. They’re extremely hard to stop, so the guides usually carry .375 H&H Magnums. All of our guides were using Barnes Triple Shock bullets to prevent wounded animals from escaping into the brush. Their incredible hardiness makes nilgai an excellent choice for testing bullet performance.
I hunted the Yturria Ranch as a guest of the National Rifle Association. This ranch has no high fences. It borders other enormous ranches and game roams freely over hundreds of thousands of acres.
The Texas weather was great—considerably warmer and drier than in my home state of Utah, where morning temperatures were dipping below freezing and snow was still on the ground. After two days of hunting, my guide Fred Gilbert and I located a great bull with a bunch of cows. Steadying my .300 Weatherby Magnum over a bipod, I took a slightly quartering shot at a range of about 150 yards. My 180-grain Tipped Triple Shock (TTSX) entered just behind the shoulder and ranged completely through the huge animal to exit the far side, leaving a gaping hole through the center of the heart. A second shot wasn’t necessary. Complete penetration meant we couldn’t recover the bullet. Three other TSX bullets were recovered by other hunters; all retained 100 percent of their original weight.
My nilgai had 10-1/4-inch horns. Any horns longer than 9 inches qualify as a real trophy. I’m told the nilgai I shot could rank among the 15th largest ever taken.
Exotic game like nilgai is available year around, and hunting in Texas costs a fraction of what you’d spend traveling to distant countries. With a little planning and imagination, you can hunt big game whenever you find time.
Now that it’s spring, prairie dog and rockchuck season is just around the corner. This is a great opportunity for everyone in the family to enjoy the shooting sports. Deer season will be here before you know it!
Good hunting,
Randy
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Spring is finally here—I think. We are still getting snow here in Utah and cold weather continues. I am hoping for warmer weather so we can get out and enjoy the sun.
We’ve just received some interesting facts about our shooting industry that I would like to share with you. This is from the National Sporting Goods Association. These words and information have not been altered for this article in Coni’s Corner.
New statistics show that hunting gear and firearm sales topped $3.7 billion in 2006, up 4.1 percent from the previous year. Only exercise equipment performed better, with sales of $5.22 billion, according to NSGA’s most recent “Sporting Goods Market” report. Golf equipment, which claimed the No. 2 spot the previous year, fell into third place with $3.66 billion in sales.
“These statistics not only further demonstrate the willingness of America’s 40 million hunters and shooters to spend big bucks to enjoy their lifestyles, but also show our industry’s success in continuing to develop new products to meet their needs,” said Doug Painter, president of the firearm industry’s trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
“The increase in projected sales reported by NSGA corresponds to other increases we saw between 2005 and 2006 in production, excise taxes on firearms and ammunition, background checks related to the purchase of firearms and in hunting license sales,” said Painter.
NSGA’s sales projection for 2007 shows golf equipment and hunting and shooting equipment running neck-and-neck to claim the No. 2 spot, with exercise equipment remaining at No. 1.
Included in the hunting- and shooting-related equipment category are firearms ($2.18 billion in 2006 sales), air guns ($224.1 million), ammunition ($977.1 million), knives ($51.8 million), paintball guns/packages ($220.9 million) and reloading equipment ($52.0 million).
Below is a listing of the top 10 categories.
2006 Sales Athletic and Sports Equipment:
1. Exercise - $5.22 billion
2. Hunting and firearms - $3.71 billion
3. Golf - $3.66 billion
4. Athletic goods team sales - $2.62 billion
5. Fishing tackle - $2.22 billion
6. Camping - $1.53 billion
7. Optics - $1.01 billion
8. Snow skiing - $615.0 Million
9. Billiards / indoor games - $570.9 million
10. Tennis - $419.8 million
It gives me great pleasure to share this information with you. We hunters and shooters are a force to be reckoned with and cannot be ignored! It’s obvious we make a big impact on the economy and will continue to do so.
Thanks for your support of Barnes Bullets. We will continue to provide you with innovative, quality products you can depend on.
Coni
Question: Ty and Jessica—Last November I hunted whitetail deer in Saskatchewan. On arrival, our group checked our rifles out at the range to make sure they were shooting ok. The rifle I was using was a SUB-MOA Weatherby chambered for the .300 WSM. My handload consisted of a 180-grain MRX bullet over 69.0 grains of Reloder 19 ignited by Federal 215 primers. This is a very accurate load! At home, I’d sighted my rifle in to print three inches high at 100 yards. In October, I shot a 370-class bull elk in Nevada at a ranged 492 yards with that rifle and load (I sent Randy the picture—and yes, I do practice at that range).
In Canada, the rifle was printing dead center and six inches high at 100 yards, with bullets going into about a one-inch group. I didn’t want to mess with the scope, so I compensated when I shot my deer. We’d hit an arctic cold front and the temperature was 30 below zero Fahrenheit.
My question is, how does extreme cold affect ballistics? I’ve heard primer “blast” affects the powder charge differently in severe cold. Could extreme cold cause an increase in velocity and pressure, resulting in a change in the point of impact? Does cold air create a different drag on the bullet? Does a cold barrel produce a different bullet flight path? When I brought the rifle home and fired it in 50-degree weather, it shot slightly over three inches high at 100 yards again.
Incidentally, both animals were instantly dead when the MRX hit them. The bullet passed all the way through the elk at a range of almost 500 yards, Amazing!
Thanks, Ty. It’s great to have such fine customer support!
Answer: Hi Richard,
Temperature can have a dramatic affect on a given load (velocity varies 1.5 - 2 fps per degree fahrenheit as a general rule with standard powders). Typically, velocities are reduced in cold weather. Velocity, humidity and altitude changes can vary the bullet’s path as well. It really becomes an issue when shooting at extended ranges. The slower moving bullet within the barrel could have allowed the muzzle to rise (the bullet stays in the barrel longer, allowing for more rise). This, in combination with the other factors would have changed the bullet’s point of impact. However, yours is an extreme case.
Thanks for your kind words, and congratulations on a fine hunt!
—Ty
Question: Are XPB bullets made of cast copper?
—Paul
Answer: Barnes’ XPB bullets are cut from pure copper wire into slugs and are manufactured by a process called impact extrusion. Thanks for your question.
—Ty
I am writing to tell of my supreme (no pun intended) satisfaction with your .30 caliber 180-grain TSX Bullets. Not only did they produce constant sub-MOA groups in my .300 Win Mag, but the proof was in the pudding when they helped me down a great bull elk. My shot entered right on the shoulder of my bull at approximately 100 yards. Upon impact, the bullet immediately opened up to create a larger than quarter-coin-sized hole, traversed the entire chest cavity, then broke through the offside shoulder, breaking the leg bone cleanly in two. Of course, the bullet could not be recovered due to complete penetration. However, I am certain that if it had been recovered, it would have retained most of its weight and expanded into the “X” shape your bullets are noted for!
Thanks for making an accurate bullet that performs just they way it’s intended to!
—Mark Hickey
Barbecued Venison Ribs
2 ½ c water
3 c ketchup
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1/4 c lemon juice
1/2 c Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c maple syrup
1/2 c brown sugar
2 med onions, diced
2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp Salt
6 lb Venison ribs with some loin
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large bowl, blend all ingredients except ribs. Sprinkle ribs with freshly ground pepper and salt. Place in 5 qt. roasting pan in double layer. Roast 1 hour. Pour sauce over ribs. Increase heat to 350 degrees and bake until ribs just begin to char on top, about 1 ½ hours. Turn ribs over and cover pan. Bake about 30 minutes longer, until ribs are tender and sauce is thick. To serve, place on serving platter and pour sauce over ribs. Makes about 6 servings. Note: If venison is a little gamey tasting, increase vinegar in sauce to 3 Tbsp.
The “From The Lab” and “Parting Shots” will not be included in this month’s Bullet-N due to a tremendous amount of focus on completion of the Barnes Reloading Manual #4. We’re almost there!
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I am a computer technician by trade, but I have always loved the outdoors and hunting. I contribute this to growing up in a small town in middle Georgia called Sandersville. I now live in Florida, but always head back home in time for hunting season. I started reloading while I was still in high school and have never turned back. I have recently become interested in long range shooting. I hope that I get years more enjoyment from shooting, be it an aluminum can with a .22 or a 20” disk at 1000 yards with a 7mm Magnum.
Allen won the BlackTrail 100oz Hydration/Hunting Pack.
Cold Steel Black Rock Hunter Knife
Knife manufacturers generally try to build a modicum of safety into the knives they create. A folding knife’s sharp edge should fold into its handle for example, or a fixed blade will come with some kind of sheath to house it. Cold Steel obviously takes this task more seriously than most of our competitors.
Accidents do, however, happen. A folding knife can accidentally open in the pocket or fall out and pop open. Or an unsecured fixed blade can fall out of its sheath. This is especially true for hunters, climbers, hikers, backpackers and outdoorsmen in general who spend a great deal of time on uneven, sometimes wet, terrain where they might trip and compound their injuries because the knife they wore came loose or opened at an inopportune time.
Our new Black Rock Hunter has been specifically designed to address this problem. It stays firmly closed until it’s needed and then locks rigidly open while in use. Its twin Grivory handles feature two integral springs (similar to a conventional slip joint folder) that are designed to rotate 180 degrees around the blade’s unique split tang and use strong opposing spring tension to lock the blade open or hold it firmly closed. When carried in the closed position the channel cut into the inside of each handle totally encapsulates the blade and holds it in place by a substantially strong spring tension. To open the knife, both handles have to be rotated 180 degrees to assume a new position on the tang where the springs can once again supply opposing tension and lock the knife open.
The advantages are threefold.
First, due to the considerable spring tension holding the handles closed, it’s very unlikely the knife will ever open inadvertently in your pocket or even “pop open” if dropped violently on the ground.
Second, the Black Rock Hunter requires the use of both hands to make the four distinct movements required to rotate both handles 180 degrees from closed to open. The Black Rock Hunter is not a butterfly knife, gravity knife, flick knife or switchblade. It can’t be opened by a wrist snap, or any single-handed opening technique. It offers a significant margin of safety and, because of the way it’s opened, it’s legal to possess in most countries, states or jurisdictions that unreasonably ban the sale of even the most innocent one-handed openers.
Third, and most importantly, the Black Rock Hunter offers a simple, fool proof, maintenance free lock that’s virtually impossible to overcome. Positive pressure on the lock from cutting and chopping strokes and negative pressure from sticking, digging or prying is absorbed equally as well by super strong opposing spring tension.
Specifications: Blade: 4″
Handle: 4 3/4″
Overall: 8 3/4″
Thick: 3.5mm
Weight: 3.9 oz.
Steel: Japanese AUS 8A Stainless
MSRP &64.99
For more information visit our website at www.coldsteel.com.
